Deep Water
by Ann Valentine
Summary: AU. When Swifty messes up his dive, he ends up with love unexpected. (slash, Snoddy/Swifty) (Chapter three up 9/8/02!)
1. Three Whistle Blasts

**Deep Water**

**Part the First**

**Three Whistle-Blasts**

"C'mon, Jeff!" Michael "Skittery" Hasczak said encouragingly, holding his arms out to his little brother.  "Jump to me!"

            Jeff Hasczak, five, looked at the wide gap of three feet between the wall where he stood and his brother's arms.  He didn't know if he could jump that far, and he couldn't swim that well.

            "Mikey?" he quavered.

            "Yeah, Jeff?"

            "Can you—can you move in a little bit?"

            Skittery grinned.  "Sure thing."  He moved about a foot closer, still holding out his arms.  "C'mon, Jeff! I got you."

            With a giggle, Jeff launched himself into his brother's strong arms.  Skittery caught him adeptly and held him close as Jeff's arms wound around his neck.

            "Good job, Jeff! Wanna do it again?"

            Jeff's face lit up.  "Yeah!"

            "Okay, swim back to the wall!" He turned Jeff back to the wall and set him in the water.  Jeff began doggy-paddling to the wall, finally reaching it and pulling himself out.  

            "Hey, Skitts!" someone yelled.

            Jeff leapt, and Skittery caught him while turning to face the speaker.  "Hey, Pie, do another belly flop?"

            Byron "Pie Eater" Kline made a face and nodded, then pointed to the deep end, or, more specifically, to the high dive.  A slender figure with wide trunks on could be seen standing on it, striding confidently to the edge.  

            "Swifty's gonna do his Super-Duper-World-Famous Two and a Half," Pie Eater informed Skittery and Jeff.

            "What's that?" Jeff asked curiously.

            "He's going to jump off the high dive, flip twice, and dive in the water," Skittery told him.  Jeff's eyes widened.

            "Wow! Can he _do that? Won't the lifeguards __yell at him?"_

            Skittery burst out laughing.  "No, Jeff, the lifeguards won't yell at him.  It's okay for him to do that."

            Swifty walked back to the ladder, turned, then took off at a run.  As Skittery, Pie Eater, and Jeff watched, he bounced and tucked into a ball.  

            "Oh, no!" said Pie Eater.  "He didn't get far away enough from the board! He's gonna—"

            As soon as Pie Eater had spoken, Swifty hit the board with a sickening _crack and rolled bonelessly to the water below._

            James "Snoddy" Thatcher was bored.  There weren't that many kids in the deep end, and they could all swim, so he was currently amusing himself by randomly shouting "Polo!" to a group of children playing Marco Polo and seeing how long it took them to realize it was him.  [1]

            He turned back to the deep end.  A kid was facing backwards on the medium dive and, as he watched, executed a perfect back dive.  When he broke the surface, the kid was grinning like an idiot.  

            "Did you guys see that?" he yelled.  "That was _perfect!"_

            "Get to the wall," Snoddy called.

            "Yeah, Snitch, get to the wall," someone said.

            Snoddy rolled his eyes and turned back to the middle section.  The game of Marco Polo continued.

            "Polo!" he shouted at the same time as the other kids.  One of them, a little brunette girl with her hair in pigtails, turned and frowned at him.

            "Hey!" she said.  "You aren't playing!" 

            Snoddy laughed, and turned back to the deep end.  Another kid had just performed an aerial, but messed up on his landing and did a massive belly flop.  As one, the people in the deep end winced and said "Ooh!" 

            The next person to hop up on the high dive took Snoddy's breath away.  A slender Asian guy stood at the edge of the board, gazing over the pool like he was lord of all he surveyed.  His wide trunks emphasized the slimness of his build.  Fine black hair flopped into his face, which he brushed away with a careless flick of his hand.  He was, to summarize, absolutely gorgeous.  

            _I'm single, you're gorgeous, wanna get nasty? The rogue thought popped up, and Snoddy tried to banish it.  He was a lifeguard, and that guy was the clientele.  Such things did not happen._

            Still . . . _yow._

            The guy walked back to the ladder, then began to run.  He bounced, and tucked into a ball.  Immediately, Snoddy could see something was wrong.  He hadn't gotten far enough away, he was going to—

            There was a loud _crack._

            Snoddy had blown his whistle and was in the water before the guy ever hit.

            If there was one thing Simon "Swifty" Li was not, it was scared.  He knew exactly what he was doing.  He'd done it a million times—it was just a two and a half.  Elementary stuff.  

            Swifty watched as Snitch pulled off his first perfect back-dive.

            "He finally didn't whack himself in the back," Swifty commented to Pie Eater, who was ahead of him.  "That's a first."

            Pie chuckled.  "I'm gonna do an aerial.  Pray for me."  

            Swifty laughed.  "Will do."  Pie was notorious for his belly flops.  

            As always, he hit hard.  He popped to the surface, holding his stomach.

            "I'm okay!" Pie choked out.  He began swimming towards the middle section with difficulty.  

            Swifty scampered up the ladder and stood at the back of the board.  This was gonna go perfectly.  He could feel it in his bones.

            . . . no, wait, he was feeling something else.  Someone's eyes.  Surreptitiously, Swifty glanced around.  The lifeguard's sunglassed eyes were burning holes into him.  

            _Is he checking me out? Oh my God!_

            The drama queen in him forced him to flick his hair out of his eyes and toss a look at the guard before walking back to the ladder.  He turned, faced the water, and began to run.

            Once he was close to the edge, Swifty bounced, closed his eyes, and tucked for the first flip.  

            Suddenly, he felt a searing pain go through his shoulder, and everything went black.  

~end part one~ 

[1] This is actually how we amuse ourselves in the stand.  Sad, isn't it? 

So, what do you guys think? Review, please!


	2. Two Metal Doors

Welcome to part two of "Deep Water!" But first, the shout-outs!

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Kim: Yeah, it's up, hooray! *is glomped*

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Neffie: Yes, let's imagine that lovely lovely image . . .mmm . .. 

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Gears: Noooo! Anything but that! *grabs notebook and begins scribbling furiously*

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Tunes: Of course dear! Here you go!

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Sphinx: Isn't it the best? And the pairing is sooooo cute! I heart Snoddy/Swifty! 

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Kat: YAAAAAY! *tackles* Please do that soon! And the OB/EW thing toooo! 

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Manda: I read it! I luffled it! School starts tomorrow! That sucks hosewater! 

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Vinyl: *whistles innocently* *is glomped* okay! Yes! Here's more!

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Khavi: Hey hey hey! Don't kick the merchandise! *Snoddy whimpers* *giggles* 

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Stage: *is glomplatchhuggled* Okay! Here is more! 

ENJOY!

(and don't forget to review!)

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Deep Water

Part the Second

Two Metal Doors

Snoddy pulled the strap of the rescue tube across his chest and dove into the deep end. With a strong freestyle, he reached the site of impact. The guy had sunk a little bit beneath the surface, so Snoddy reached down and pulled him up. He hooked his arms around the guy's bony shoulders, put the rescue tube between them, and began breastroke kicking back to the wall. 

"Is he okay?" Relic asked worriedly from the stand.

"He's unconscious," Snoddy replied. "Get someone to help me get him out, and tell Specs to call 911." 

"I'm on it," Relic replied. She turned and yelled, "HEY! KAT! GET OVER HERE! SPECS! CALL 911!"

A second later, Kat blasted over and knelt next to the pool. Snoddy turned himself and his burden so they were facing the wall, then pressed the guy against the wall. Kat took the guy's hands from the water and crossed them at the wrist. Then, with the utmost carefulness, she pulled him from the water and laid him gently on the side. 

"Thanks, Kat," Snoddy said. He tossed the rescue tube next to the stand and clambered out. He knelt beside the guy and bent over, placing his ear above the guy's mouth.

__

Oh, great, he thought. _He's not breathing. Isn't this magical._

Snoddy pinched the guy's nose shut, sealed their mouths together, and exhaled twice. The guy's chest rose with each breath. 

Snoddy pulled back and felt for a pulse. To his immense relief, he found one, albeit a thin and thready one. _Thank God. I had no desire to do CPR. _

He continued with the rescue breathing until he was tapped on the shoulder.

"We'll take it from here, son," a paramedic said.

"Oh, thank you," Snoddy said. He stood up, managed to wobble behind the front desk, and promptly fainted.

"SWIFTY!" Skittery cried. He clambered up the ladder one-handed, the other arm keeping Jeff firmly attached to his hip, and sprinted to the deep end. 

"Hey!" said the lifeguard, glaring at him. "Keep back! You can't get in the way!" 

"That's my friend!" Skittery replied.

"Go to the front desk and help Specs fill out the accident report, then," the lifeguard said. "Make yourself useful." 

"Lemme down," Jeff whined. Automatically, Skittery bent and released his brother. 

"Go play with Pie, okay?"

Jeff nodded enthusiastically and scampered off. 

Skittery walked over to the front desk and leaned on the red counter, poking his head through the window.

" 'Scuse me," he said.

The girl behind the front desk, a cute blue-eyed brunette, hurriedly set down her book. Before she flipped it over, Skittery caught a glimpse of the title.

__

The New Joy of Gay Sex . . . what the . . .

"May I help you?" the girl asked.

"I'm looking for Specs?"

"That's me," said a harried-looking brunette guy with thin-rimmed glasses. His tank top proclaimed that he was "Hot Stuff" and prominently featured a grinning chili pepper. 

"Um, the lifeguard over there said I can help with the accident report . . . ?" 

"Right. Stage, toss me the notebook." 

"Only for a big wet kiss," Stage replied with a wink. Specs went red, and Stage grinned, reached under the desk, and slid a large red notebook over to him. 

Skittery helped Specs fill out Swifty's vital information. At the 'Cause of Accident' box, they paused.

"Do you know what caused this?" Specs asked.

Skittery shrugged helplessly. "No. Swifty's been doing his two-and-a-halves since he was twelve, he's _never _messed it up before." 

"Okay, we can work with that," Specs said. In the 'Cause of Accident' box, he wrote in 'Screwed up 2 ½.' 

Just then, a group of white-suited people burst through the doors of the pool. One, a blonde man with a silver earring, came up to the front desk.

"Where's the body, baby?" he asked Specs. 

"Over by the deep end."

"Got it." 

The group of people hurried out of the main building and went down to the deep end, where Swifty was loaded onto a stretcher, then hurried out. 

"Wait!" said Skittery, grabbing one of the paramedics' arms. "Can I go with you? That's my best friend!" 

The paramedic nodded. "Yeah, kid, get in the ambulance. Just don't make a nuisance out of yourself." 

Pie Eater and Jeff both clambered out of the pool as the paramedics loaded Swifty into the back of the ambulance, and their view of him was cut off as one of the paramedics slammed the door shut. 

"Is Swifty dead?" Jeff asked quietly.

Pie Eater said nothing, and the two boys watched in silence as the ambulance peeled away.

~end part two~ 


	3. Twelve White Roses

Yaaay! Chapter three is _finally finished! Hoorah! But before we get to the good stuff, let's have some SHOUT-OUTS!_

**Blaze ~ Believe it or not, Skitts is actually straight in this one.  *giggle* Hard to believe, innit? **

**BitterSweet ~ Here's what happens next! Now sit all the way on your chair or else you'll fall out.**

**Stage ~ Damn straight he is! And yay, the muse did stay with me, although he left for a while, but now he's back.**

**Stiletto ~ Yeah, I do need to e-mail you . . . still.  *sweatdrop* **

**Sphinx ~ I saw that shirt at a store and I was like "OH MY GOD! SPECS!" And yes, the EMT was Dutchy.  And there are a ton of Slashy Lady inserts in this chapter, YAY! **

**Kim ~ Doesn't it fit him?**

**Vinyl ~ I know the CPRing too! Ain't it fun? Glad you like it—here's some more slashy goodness! *is glomped***

**Kat ~ Your review made me laugh so hard.  ^___^ And yay, here's more! Okay, so it's not exactly soon, but whatever.**

**Khavi ~ YAAY! Swifty liiiives! He liiives! ^___^ *reaches and puts on "King of New York"***

**Neffie**** ~ Does it say something that I saw the book and immediately thought of her? *grin* And WOO! Shirtless Skitts! **

**Sinhe ~ Swifty's okay! Calm down, dear! I love Specs' shirt too.  Doesn't it suit him so well? **

Let's go on with the show!

**Deep Water**

**Part the Third**

**Twelve White Roses**

The next day at work, Snoddy was sitting on the counter, trying to concentrate on the book lying open in his lap.  For some reason, though, the capers of ancient Thebes kept being crowded out by a slender Asian boy with baggy trunks and a confident stride.  

"Ugh!" he said finally, tossing the book down on the counter.  "So he married his mother! Who _cares? Was it necessary to write a __play about it?" _

"Ah, the wonders of AP English," Neffie said, grinning over at Snoddy.  She looked down at Vinyl, whose hair she was French braiding, and said, "Fork over the hair tie."  

"Are you okay, Snoddy?" Sphinx asked curiously, tucking some blonde hair behind her ear.  "You really liked that book yesterday."  

"_I bet he's still thinking about that boy from yesterday," Kat said teasingly.  She grinned at Snoddy.  "So? Is that the deal?"     _

"Um," said Snoddy in an amazing and clever tactical maneuver.  "No.  This play just sucks."  

"Oh, he is!" said Ann, clapping her hands with delight.  "That's so _cute!"_

"Sphinx, grab the red notebook," Neffie said, holding out her hand.  Sphinx ducked down, grabbed it, and tossed it to the manager.  Neffie caught it deftly and began paging through it.

"Let's see here . . . yesterday.  Ah, here we are.  His name's Simon Li, he's sixteen, lives over on Ash Street."  She frowned.  "Too bad they don't have a blank for sexual orientation on here; I could tell you whether you had a chance with him."   

Snoddy went red and smacked Neffie's shoulder with his book.  "Death!" he said.

Neffie waved her hand dismissively.  "Yeah, yeah, that's what all my dates say."

Swifty's eyes opened.  He blinked up at the nondescript white ceiling, dazed.  He didn't know quite where he was, but he was pretty sure it wasn't his room.  His room did not smell like disinfectant and coffee.  He hated coffee.

"What's going on?" Swifty asked groggily.  

"Ah, Mr. Li, so glad you could join us today," a voice said.  Swifty looked over, blinked.  A woman in her late twenties stood by his bed, holding a clipboard to her chest.  "I'm Dr. Ingles, Mr. Li.  I'm afraid you messed your shoulder up rather badly.  You won't be doing any more two-and-a-halves for a while."  

Swifty stared at her.  Then, very slowly and carefully, he said, "What happened to me?" 

"Let me help you sit up first," Dr. Ingles said.  She leaned down and hit a button on the side of his bed.  With a whirring, the bed creaked into an upright position.  

"Now, Mr. Li," she continued, "I would recommend getting used to writing with your left hand."    
"What? Why?" Swifty cried, jerking forward.  Blinding pain shot through his shoulder and he fell back, eyes shut tightly against the pain, breath escaping in sharp, sobbing gasps from between his clenched teeth.  

Dr. Ingles waited while he recovered, then continued, "You dislocated your shoulder and gave yourself a good whack on the head.  We've put your shoulder back in place and it will heal.  Also, Mr. Li, you seem to be possessed of a remarkably thick skull, so luckily you don't have any brain damage."  

"Why will I have to write with my left hand?" Swifty asked, not so sure he wanted the answer.  

"Because, Mr. Li, you will have that bandage on for--" Dr. Ingles paused, almost, it seemed to Swifty, dramatically, "—eight weeks."   

Snoddy took a deep breath and shifted the vase to his other hand.  He'd stopped by the flower shop on his way from work and picked up a bouquet of white roses.  

/And if he ends up not being gay, then, after I curse my existence, I say they're from the girls,/ he decided.  

He stepped up to the front counter.  "Hi," he said to the receptionist.  "I'm looking for Simon Li."  

"What d'you want with Swifty?" asked a voice from behind him.  Snoddy turned and saw a guy with spiky brown hair, hard brown eyes, and a frown creasing his face.  Clinging to his hand was a little boy with short, soft-looking hair and huge blue eyes.  The little boy smiled up at Snoddy and said to his brother,

"I know him! He's a lifeguard guy at the pool."  

Snoddy smiled.  "That's right.  I was actually the lifeguard who saved Simon, and I wanted to see how he was doing."  

The guy stuck out his free hand.  "Mike Hasczak."

"James Thatcher," Snoddy replied, shaking the guy's hand with the non-flower-holding one.  

"C'mon, I'll take you up to Swifty's room."

"I'm bored, I'm bored, I'm BORED! This SUCKS!" Swifty yelled, causing a passing nurse to glare at him and shush him irritably.  

"Mikey, what does 'sucks' mean?" asked a little voice out in the hallway.

"I'll tell you when you're older."  

Skittery and Jeff came in.

"Oh, yeah, soo glad you can come visit me _now—" _

. . . followed by someone who made Swifty stop mid-bitch and stare.    

He was tall and broad-shouldered, with short fawn-colored hair, cobalt blue eyes, and long legs.  A black tank top and khaki shorts showed off his deep tan and well-formed muscles.  A hesitant yet gorgeous smile revealed white teeth and a dimple in his left cheek.  One arm cradled a vase with twelve white roses in it.  

"Hi," the unbelievable babe said shyly.  "I'm James.  Um, I saved you yesterday."  

Swifty's brain barely processed what he was saying.  One thought kept running through his head—

_My guardian angel is so hot._

It wasn't until he saw Skittery hitting himself in the forehead and the babe's stunned expression that he realized he'd said it out loud.  

~end part three~ 


End file.
